Official Ubuntu Server compressed image boots in UEFI and BIOS mode

Get the Ubuntu Server compressed image (of the current developing version) via

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-server/daily-preinstalled/pending/

When downloaded (and checked with sha256sum) you can flash it to an internal or external drive with mkusb-dus

dus kinetic-preinstalled-server-amd64.img.xz
dus lunar-preinstalled-server-amd64.img.xz
...

Get the Jammy version, 22.04.x LTS, via

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-server/jammy/daily-preinstalled/current/

When downloaded (and checked with sha256sum) you can flash it to an internal or external drive with mkusb-dus

dus jammy-preinstalled-server-amd64.img.xz

Get the Noble version, 24.04.x LTS, via

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-server/noble/daily-preinstalled/current/

When downloaded (and checked with sha256sum) you can flash it to an internal or external drive with mkusb-dus

dus noble-preinstalled-server-amd64.img.xz

When you have installed one of these systems from a compressed image file, and you reboot, you log in with the following user and password:

user: ubuntu

password: ubuntu (and you are prompted to change it directly after the first login)

Preparation

It might help to prepare by reading the following link

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/FromUSBStick

The following link gives more background information about partitioning

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/DiskSpace

Original attempt

/original-attempt

Not stable enough to survive certain updates

I expected that it could be installed into a USB pendrive as a good alternative to a persistent live system, possible to update and upgrade without limits. But unfortunately a current update involving a new kernel and updating grub will make it fail to boot. So this system is not stable enough to survive certain updates. It is good only as an illustration of a method to make a bootable drive in UEFI as well as BIOS mode.

Stable alternatives

If you want a stable portable system, that boots in UEFI mode as well as BIOS/CSM mode, and in 64-bit as well as 32-bit computers, you can try One pendrive for all PC (Intel/AMD) computers. If you want a pendrive with a live and an installed system, you can try A new and so far successful attempt to create a stable portable system, that works in UEFI and BIOS mode.

Detailed instructions

Stable alternative 1

There are links to instructions how to make an installed system (typically in a USB pendrive) that works with UEFI and BIOS, and is small enough to work in an undersized 16 GB pendrive. This system is created from Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 'Xenial' amd64 ('gamma' because it is beyond beta), and was simplified compared to the previous methods to make a stable installed system for UEFI and BIOS mode.

This link shows the post in an Ubuntu Forums tutorial, where the method was published:

Another new, simpler and so far successful attempt to create a stable portable system, that works in UEFI and BIOS mode

with a description how to make it 'from scratch' plus a link to uploaded compressed image files plus a small script to fix the GPT after cloning.

Stable alternative 2

The following link describes a new alternative with Lubuntu 18.04.1 LTS

• live
• persistent live
• installed system

See this link to the sub-page: /stable-alternative-18.04.1

Installation from a compressed image file

There is an easy way for you to get an installed Ubuntu system, that boots both in UEFI and BIOS mode, and you can use it in several cases. However,

• if you want to learn how to do it, or
• if you want to be sure of the content (and don't rely on me), or
• if you want hibernation, or
• if you want an encrypted disk (LVM with LUKS encryption),

then you must do it yourself. (In the encrypted disk case, you must create the passphrase yourself during the installation.)

Compressed image file

It is straight-forward to install from a compressed image file using mkusb or mkusb-nox. Some tools may not work with compressed images of such large files. I tried in Lubuntu Xenial 32-bit daily to restore disk image with gnome-disks alias Disks, but it considered the size to be 3.5 GB, when it was 12 GB, so the image was truncated, Bug #1571255

After this cloning operation you should run gpt-fix in order to match the gpt data to the current drive size.

Description of the short-cut to make an installed system (typically in a USB pendrive) that works with UEFI and BIOS from a compressed image file:

Download source 1

Download the following compressed image files from

https://phillw.net/isos/linux-tools/uefi-n-bios

where you also find a gpg-signed file with md5sums, md5sum.txt.asc.

Remember to check with md5sum, that the download of the compressed image file was successful.

Download source 2

Download the following compressed image files from

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0BzX-18u3W1sQUXI2YV95dHJxVlE?resourcekey=0-AgT9pCQwv_m3K6D9Jvf9eQ&usp=sharing

md5sums:

bac77b006baccb3d21923e3753f17641  dd_Ubuntu_16.04.1_2017-01-17_UEFI-n-BIOS-12GB.img.xz
c28619e78910e3c1f1e499a0af20598b  dd_dus-lxde_16.04-UEFI-n-BIOS_2017-05-07_intel-4-pendrive-7.8GB.img.xz
df970651be45d985c8c9579eed84719f  dd_text_16.04-UEFI-n-BIOS_2017-05-07_intel-4-pendrive-7.8GB.img.xz
a22b641ac2708df917452a14930994be  dd_lubuntu-18.04.1-desktop-amd64-persistent-n-installed_15GB.img.xz
7475bb74f56ccb74b5377f82f476a0dd  dd_unb_ubuntu-20.04_15GB_2020-06-26.img.xz
89b3cd5206a1ce0e6b569cf276e04d7f  dd_unb_ubuntu-20.04_15GB_2020-09-06.img.xz
ac00ae810b120d7b7dfca4d995593fbf  dd_unb_ubuntu-20.04_15GB_2020-09-07_with-proposed.img.xz

Screenshot of 'Ubuntu 20.04 LTS - installed'

User and password

in Linux

The target drive will be overwritten. Double-check which is the target drive, the drive you want to install into!

Use mkusb to install the system from the compressed image file.

See https://help.ubuntu.com/community/mkusb

gpt_fix in mkusb

The GUID partition table, GPT, is fixed automatically, if you use mkusb 10.6.6 or a newer version to install from these compressed image files. The functions gpt_zap and gpt_fix are built into mkusb.

If you use other tools, you need gpt-fix or to fix the GPT manually with gdisk. If this does not work, you probably need a bigger target drive (big enough to store all the partitions in the original source drive).

in Windows

Rufus

• We assume that you have downloaded a compressed image file according to the instructions above.

• Check that you have the current version of Rufus.

• Check that you have a tool that can extract the content from the compressed image file, and that can cooperate with Rufus, for example 7-zip.

• Run Rufus, and it can manage the whole process of extraction and cloning from the compressed image file to a USB pendrive.

• When you try to boot from the operating system in the target drive, there might be problems due to different size of the original drive size and the target drive size. This can be fixed in Ubuntu (and other Linux distros) by gdisk and often also by gpt-fix or gparted, if the target drive is big enough to store all the partitions in the original source drive. Otherwise you need a bigger target drive.

Stepwise instructions

Check the download and clone the image in Windows according to the following page

Win32DiskImager/compressed-image_2_USB-or-SD

or according to this summary:

Download the following help programs

http://www.md5summer.org

https://www.7-zip.org

https://sourceforge.net/projects/win32diskimager

First check that the download was successful with md5summer according to the file md5sums.txt.asc.

Next extract the image file with 7-zip (It is also possible with winzip)

from dd_Ubuntu_16.04-gamma-UEFI-n-BIOS-4-pendrive-12GB.img.xz

to dd_Ubuntu_16.04-gamma-UEFI-n-BIOS-4-pendrive-12GB.img

The target drive will be overwritten. Double-check which is the target drive, the drive you want to install into!

Then write the extracted image file (without the ending gz) with win32diskimager

Win32diskimager looks for img files.

gpt-fix

After this cloning operation you should run gpt-fix in order to match the gpt data to the current drive size (unless you are using mkusb version 10.6.6 or newer versions of mkusb).

See more details at /stable-alternative#gpt-fix

Final system tweaks

Decrease wear for a pendrive

Add the mount option noatime in /etc/fstab

# / was on /dev/sdb3 during installation
UUID=4c518694-d97c-4910-bb7b-eeb6a6b73874  /  ext4  noatime,errors=remount-ro 0  1

Do not copy this line. Use your own data, only add noatime,

Turn off journaling

sudo tune2fs -O ^has_journal /dev/sdxy

where x is the drive letter and y is the partition number of the root partition, for example /dev/sda3.

Maybe remove swap

It is also possible to remove the swap partition and the swap entry in /etc/fstab in order to avoid wear due to swapping.

Move swap and grow root partitions

Move the swap partition and grow the root partition to use the whole drive. See this link

https://phillw.net/isos/linux-tools/uefi-n-bios/GrowIt.pdf

Alternate link: GrowIt.pdf

Login and password

When you have installed these systems from a compressed image file, and you reboot, you log in with the following user and password

It is a good idea to change the password.

Links

If you want a stable portable system, that boots in UEFI mode as well as BIOS/CSM mode, and in 64-bit as well as 32-bit computers, you can try One pendrive for all PC (Intel/AMD) computers. If you want a pendrive with a live and an installed system, you can try A new and so far successful attempt to create a stable portable system, that works in UEFI and BIOS mode

It might be a good idea to try various systems and methods before deciding what to install. Try Ubuntu (Kubuntu, Lubuntu, Xubuntu, ...) before installing it

The following links contain general information

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/FromUSBStick

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/DiskSpace